Fall 2014 training: It's go time

Rise and shine!

So last week went really well. 75k total, with 50k of that spread over 5 runs, the rest in two bike rides (on the same day - I was traveling back and forth from volunteering at a MEC race), and I feel great. Ready to go. The legs feel good, hips feel fine, and my head is definitely in 'LET'S DO THIS THING!' mode. I had a particularly fantastic 16k partial trail run yesterday that I finished full of energy and all 'WOO! RUNNING! YAY!'. I think that's a sign that's it's time to start reintroducing some hard stuff.

This was a very good day on the Bruce Trail. That golden early morning light is pure magic.

I have a rough plan laid out for the next few months of training, but it should probably be labelled 'flexibility'. Every Sunday night I'm going to sit down, review how the week went, look at the upcoming week for things like nasty weather forecasts, heavy work days, days the kids will be away, and so on, and then I'll modify on the fly to best suit how I'm feeling and what's going on in my life. It's a pretty standard 4 week cycle - 3 weeks progressively harder/longer, 1 week recovery, except the first 'cycle' will be only 2 hard weeks just due to timing and not wanting to push too hard too fast. I'm starting with one tempo run a week as quality, and I'll add either intervals or hills at some point, depending on how I'm feeling. Tentatively I'm also planning to do all my Sunday runs on local trails, both because hello, trails are awesome, but also because trails are a lot easier on my body.

On my early morning trail run yesterday, I came around a corner to this clearing with this pond, and the ducks were quacking and birds were singing and it was one of those 'Wow the world is amazing' moments. Then I noticed there was a GIANT SLUG stuck on my right arm and the tranquility of the moment was ruined by the screaming and the 'OMG GET IT OFF' dance. Trails, always interesting.

This next week includes about 50k of running, including a tempo run for the first time in ages, and what will likely be a 50k group bike ride. The weather forecast looks decent enough (on the warmer side, though, which is only appropriate since it's summer - #5amrunclub is the only way to go, yo).

I'm really looking forward to that bike ride on Saturday - it'll be with a group of Daily Mile friends and should be fun. Especially the whole stopping at a coffee shop for treats halfway through thing. Do all cyclists do that on their long rides? Because AWESOME. I think the group ride should end up about 40k, but since I live only 4k from the meeting point I'll likely bike there rather than futzing about loading the bike into my car, so the ride will end up closer to 50 for me. Plus hopefully I'll get the chance to chat with Irina & Zindine about bikes, because it looks like a new bike is in my near future. And I have no idea where to even start with that process.

Fall 2014, let's do this thing!